Alvin McEwen has a pretty epic smackdown over at AlterNet right now, over the Religious Right’s use of Paul Cameron’s “research” in order to vilify gay people. Paul Cameron, as anyone who pays attention knows, is probably the least credible “researcher” in the entire field of human sexuality. But that doesn’t matter to fundamentalist Christian wingnuts, because they one thing that group has in common is that they’re willing to lie to preserve their worldview. Here’s what Peter said to Concerned Women for America’s Martha Kleder on the subject:
Kleder: One of the things I’ve also noticed is that the SPLC seems to be riled by the fact . . . uh . . . if they don’t particularly like your source that you document then you must be a hate group.
LaBarbera: Paul Cameron.
Kleder: Yeah.
LaBarbera: They say if you cite Paul Cameron, then you are a hater. I mean that’s ridiculous. You know there is a researcher who just came out and found that Paul Cameron’s work on the greater likelihood of homosexual adoptive parents to have . . . for the child to emerge as a homosexual. He confirmed Cameron’s thesis. You don’t have to agree with everything Paul Cameron ever did but how proposterous to say that citing a researcher . . Paul Cameron’s work has been published in peer-reviewed journals. What they’ve done, Martha is set up these criteria and then you violate them, they call you a hate group, and then they have their little echo chamber on the left which reports their charge. And of course the media, which really doesn’t like us anyway. The media is very pro-gay, they cite us and so it begins to take a life of its own.
Of course, Alvin does point out that Peter is one of the only members of the Religious Right who doesn’t get embarrassed when he’s called on his use of Cameron’s “data.” The rest of them apparently have a slight bit of shame and integrity left, but Peter threw that aside when he started trolling leathersex conventions.
For anyone who is new, here’s a quick intro to Paul Cameron’s career, again, courtesy of Alvin:
Cameron is a researcher who has made a name for himself by creating studies designed to demonize the lgbt community. These studies for the most part have been published in “vanity” or “pay-for-publish” journals and they are not “peer-reviewed” in the normal sense. No “peer” who objects to Cameron’s work has the right to remove it from the journal.
He has also been discredited and censured by many group and individuals on the left, the right, and in the middle due to his bad research techniques. Several of his studies have been criticized for such errors as having small sample sizes, showing an anti-gay bias in interviews, and not having enough responses to establish a suitable analysis.
And, of course, Alvin provides a few key quotes from [actual, grown-up, non-religious] medical/mental health organizations about Paul Cameron:
“(Cameron) misrepresents my findings and distorts them to advance his homophobic views. I make a very clear distinction in my writing between pedophilia and homosexuality, noting that adult males who sexually victimize young boys are either pedophilic or heterosexual, and that in my research I have not found homosexual men turning away from adult partners to children . . . I consider this totally unprofessional behavior on the part of Dr. Cameron and I want to bring this to your attention. He disgraces his profession.” – Dr. A. Nicholas Groth in letter written to the Nebraska Board of Examiners of Psychologists on August 21, 1984
“Paul Cameron (Nebraska) was dropped from membership for a violation of the Preamble to the Ethical Principles of Psychologists – American Psychological Association, 1983
The science and profession of psychology in Nebraska as represented by the Nebraska Psychological Association, formally dissociates itself from the representations and interpretations of scientific literature offered by Dr. Paul Cameron in his writings and public statements on sexuality. Further, the Nebraska Psychological Association would like it known that Dr. Cameron is not a member of the Association. Dr. Cameron was recently dropped from membership in the American Psychological Association for a violation of the Preamble to the Ethical Principles of Psychologists – Nebraska Psychological Association, 1984
Dr. Paul Cameron has consistently misinterpreted and misrepresented sociological research on sexuality, homosexuality, and lesbianism” – American Sociological Association, 1985
The Canadian Psychological Association takes the position that Dr. Paul Cameron has consistently misinterpreted and misrepresented research on sexuality, homosexuality, and lesbianism and thus, it formally disassociates itself from the representation and interpretations of scientific literature in his writings and public statements on sexuality. – Canadian Psychological Association, 1996
There is oh, so much more where that came from, including refutations of the lies contained in Peter’s quote above, so please, read Alvin’s entire piece.
Cameron is a liar, a poor researcher, and a hatemongering bigot of the first degree. Perhaps one day an ACTUAL mental health professional will examine Cameron’s tiny life and figure out where it all went so terribly wrong.
But this, dears, is one of the many reasons these groups, including Peter’s, are on the hate groups list. They ALL know Paul Cameron is a fraud.
But they hate/fear/are threatened by gay people too much to let little things like facts get in the way.
Dr. Jack Drescher, M.D., is a psychiatrist and psychologist in private practice in New York City. He presented the second keynote address at the Anti-Heterosexism Conference in West Palm Beach, Florida, in November 2009.
Dr. Drescher has written and edited over 20 books regarding homosexuality and gender identity. His keynote, “STRAIGHT” Jackets: A Psychiatrist Deconstructs Sexual Conversion Therapies, speaks in great detail about the psychology and psychiatry of homosexuality and the ineffectiveness of so-called “conversion therapies.”
The conference organizers have now made video of this address available. Video length: about 48 minutes.
The Anti-Heterosexism Conference was co-sponsored by Soulforce, the National Black Justice Coalition, Truth Wins Out, Box Turtle Bulletin, Equality Florida, and Beyond Ex-Gay.
Feministe say wrote May 13 of efforts to assist people struggling with gender identity:
Ken Zucker of Toronto’ Clarke Institute represents the widespread, traditional approach, where the goal is to eliminate cross-gender behavior and the desire to be a different gender. He basically describes his success rate as the number of kids he’ managed to steer away from becoming an adult trans person; as he’ said elsewhere, he wants to “help these kids be more content in their biological gender.”
Which sounds all right on paper, but how far do you go in denying a child’ perfectly innocent inclinations?
Feministe notes that some view Zucker’s attitude toward gender-variant people as repackaged ex-gay therapy. And so Feministe is naturally concerned that the American Psychiatric Association has put Ken Zucker in charge of a working group that will weigh changes to the definition of gender identity disorder.
Although I don’t know if I quite understand this given that the DSM is a diagnostic tool rather than a prescriptive tool, and given that previous DSMs were written from similarly retrogressive approaches, she also feels there’ “an additional danger that gay and lesbian communities need to be cognizant of […] if Zucker and company entrench conversion therapy in the DSM-V, then it is a clear, dangerous step toward also legitimizing ex-gay therapy and re-stigmatizing homosexuality.”
That may seem to be a logical fear, but apparently it is unwarranted:
Gay City News wrote a story today that addresses some (not all) activist apprehensions. Key points:
The working groups will not prescribe treatment
The diagnosis of homosexuality will not be put back into DSM
Dr. Jack Drescher, a gay Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry affiliated with New York Medical College and a member of the APA’s DSM Work Group for Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders, was helpful in clearing up concern relating to the scope of working-group efforts.
Sources have informed TruthWinsOut.org that Monday’s symposium featuring infamous “ex-gay” therapist Dr. Warren Throckmorton has been cancelled. The forum, “A Pastoral Approach for Gay & Lesbian People Troubled by Homosexuality,” suffered a major blow when panelist, Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson, pulled out of the event. Robinson expressed concern that the symposium, scheduled to take place the same week as the APA’s annual meeting in Washington, would be used as a public relations gimmick for Focus on the Family.
“The cancellation of this forum is welcome news because it gave the wrong impression that the American Psychiatric Association endorsed ‘ex-gay’ therapy, when, in fact, the organization soundly rejects such therapies,” said TWO Executive Director Wayne Besen.
Predictably, on his blog, Throckmorton claimed that the APA is “apparently afraid of a conversation.” What he conveniently failed to mention was that this discussion ended three decades ago and his side was defeated because they lacked scientific credibility. They have yet to provide a shred of evidence supporting the efficacy of ex-gay therapy, while there is evidence that such methods cause a great deal of harm.
“Throckmorton ‘counsels’ vulnerable gay people to either live a lifetime of loneliness or a lifetime of lies. This is neither healthy nor therapeutic and it’s a diagnosis for disaster,” said Besen.
David Scasta, the openly gay psychiatrist who shamelessly promoted the seminar, has not publicly commented on the events cancellation.
Sources have told TruthWinsOut.org today that Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson has pulled out of a controversial symposium featuring an infamous “ex-gay” therapist. The May 5 symposium, at the APA’ 2008 convention in Washington, was dealt a major blow with the news of Robinson’s decision. TruthWinsOut.org opposed the panel because it featured Dr. Warren Throckmorton, an unlicensed psychologist who compares “leaving” homosexuality to quitting smoking.
“We are pleased that Bishop Robinson has not lent his credibility to a political right wing platform disguised as a scientific symposium,” said TWO Executive Director Wayne Besen. “The debate over whether homosexuality is a curable metal illness was settled decades ago and is not debatable. This forum is nothing more than an underhanded way for anti-gay activists to make their outdated and intolerant views look respectable.”
The last AGLP Newsletter announced this year’ APA annual meeting would include a symposium, “Homosexuality and Therapy: The Religious Dimension.” AGLP has no official connection to the symposium, although our convention newsletter routinely reports APA programs that may be of interest to our members.
The symposium’ organizer wondered, “Could we ever get a group of scientists and clinicians on both sides of the religious divide to seek common ground while committed to honesty in the scientific research about homosexuality–no matter what the outcome?” This is an interesting question. Yet while the panel includes two psychiatrists and a psychologist with strong religious interests, there are no scientists. Instead there is a controversial gay Episcopal bishop and the President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. So what is going on here? (Read More)
– The symposium will be at 2:00 p.m. on Monday afternoon (5/5/08) in lecture halls 159 A & B in the Washington, D.C., Convention Center –
Since 1973, the once dreaded American Psychiatric Association has become an ally of gay and lesbian equality. They have consistently withstood outside pressure from right wing organizations and instead chose to do what was in the best interest of GLBT mental health. Most notably, they endorsed same-sex civil marriage in a groundbreaking 2005 position paper.
In 1997, the APA first addressed ex-gay (or reparative) therapy by stating, “The potential risks of ‘reparative therapy’ are great and include depression, anxiety, and self-destructive behavior…Further, APA calls on these organizations and individuals to do all that is possible to decrease the stigma related to homosexuality wherever and whenever it may occur.”
In 2000, the APA issued an even stronger statement and recommended “that ethical practitioners refrain from attempts to change individuals sexual orientation, keeping in mind the medical dictum, to ‘first do no harm.’”
Unfortunately, a terribly misguided gay psychiatrist, Dr. David L. Scasta, is violating the spirit — if not the letter — of APA policy statements. In May, he will be part of a controversial symposium (Scasta calls it historic) he organized. It includes ex-gay therapist, Dr. Warren Throckmorton, who is the Sultan of Stigma and a leading purveyor of religion-based shame therapy.
Writing in the Association of Gay and Lesbian Psychiatrists’ newsletter, Scasta claims this forum will seek, “common ground” on “both sides of the religious divide.” He also urges that participants keep the symposium, “scientifically and rationally based” and hopes those on stage are committed to, “avoiding rhetoric.” Near the end of his article, Scasta claims his goal is to “ratchet down the forces of polarization.”
If the seminar’s mission is to let cooler heads prevail, inviting Throckmorton is a curious choice. An unlicensed psychologist who teaches at fundamentalist Grove City College, Throckmorton wrote an inflammatory paper for a right wing website titled, “Is Sexual Re-orientation Possible?”, that compared leaving homosexuality to quitting smoking. (Read More)
